A High School Student from the Confucius Institute at the University of Canterbury (CIUC) Won First Prize in the National New Zealand“Chinese Bridge “Speech Competition

The 2017 New Zealand National “Chinese Bridge” Speech Competition was held in Wellington on June 10th at the University of Victoria. The competition, co-sponsored by the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) and the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, was organised by the Confucius Institute at the University of Victoria. Thirty contestants from around New Zealand made it into the final. Ten competitors were chosen by the Confucius institute at the University of Canterbury (CIUC), and they represented the South Island in the competition.

The competitors demonstrated passion towards learning Chinese. Their speeches were fluent and included stories about Chinese friends and China. They impressed the judges and the audience.

Students from CIUC achieved highly in the competition. Taylin Smith from Lincoln High School was awarded first prize and also the best talent prize (senior category), Cameron Page from Rangiora High School was awarded fifth place (senior category). Terina Yee, the Chinese teacher at Lincoln High School, was awarded ‘Best Coach.’ Taylin Smith and Cameron Page will represent New Zealand by participating in the International “Chinese Bridge” Speech Competition, which will be held in Kunming (China) in October.

China’s ambassador to New Zealand Wang Lutong attended the prize-giving ceremony. Ambassador Wang highly commended the performance of the competitors. He noted that these achievements of the students are due in part to the three Confucius Institutes’ promoting Chinese language and Chinese culture. He encouraged the New Zealand students to learn about China and Chinese culture through their study of the language and to become bridge builders between China and New Zealand.